Rambling, rumbling, rumination

Immersion and Oblivion

I happened across an interesting article from a few years ago that made me wonder again a bit about this thing that gamers call “immersion“. Please read it, as it suggests thoughts more profound than this particular tangent I’m exploring:

Might not the commuters be considered to be “immersed” in their daily routine, but simultaneously oblivious to their surroundings? What price do we pay for immersion?

What I found particularly saddening was the death of a homeless man… that none of the commuters noticed. Missing out on a singularly spectacular musical experience is one thing, but missing out on possibly saving a life, that’s another. Maybe nothing could have been done, as Bill Murray’s character so painfully and poignantly learned in Groundhog Day as he tried to save a homeless man, but it’s not always the ends that matter. Sometimes, it’s what we learn and why we act that are important, as they build our character. Perhaps we fight against entropy not because we will win, but because it makes us stronger, and because it makes life worth living.

As much as I wish these MMO game worlds were more interesting places (one of my earliest articles was on this, and it’s been a recurring theme), do I really want to be immersed? No, not if it means I’m missing something more important. The quest for progress can obfuscate things that really shouldn’t be ignored or left behind.

What we always inspire to do with each new Dragon Quest is to not make it an all-virtual world, we try to make sure we keep the gamer connected to the real world, and not to have them disconnect completely. There is a phenomenon in Japan called ‘Haijin,’ these are people who just play the game and disconnect completely from reality, and that is something we do not want to do with the Dragon Quest series.

I know, I know, games are escapism, and escapism can be healthy. I certainly consider it valuable in my own life. Sometimes, though, it’s wise to poke your head out of the immersion and see what you’re missing.

6 Responses

I read that article a while ago. It is very interesting, and I wonder how many people felt foolish when they read the article and thought back to walking past there, if they could even remember that day in question.

However, I don’t think it’s accurate to call this “immersion” in the sense it’s usually referred to. I think the sad reality is that a lot of people do live their lives on autopilot. They get so wrapped up in their own lives and themselves that they shut out the world around them. I believe that we have the phrase, “stop and smell the roses” for a reason, because it’s obvious that a lot of people would march right past the roses on their way to work unless something was pointed out to them.

I certainly find myself sometimes running on autopilot. One thing I’ve tried to start noticing is how much I snack mindlessly. I’m trying to become much more intentioned on my behavior in many parts of my life. But, sometimes it is just easier to put your mind on pause and drift through life.

Again, I don’t think this is necessarily related to immersion as it applies ot games. I think this is just something that people do, and it can apply to how the approach games.

Yeah, that’s sort of my point; it’s a human condition, not something unique to gaming. 😉 Perhaps it’s best to call it “obliviousness”, but it’s still a close cousin to what we might usually think of as immersion. It’s something to be aware of and beware of in whatever we’re doing.

It’s all too easy to be oblivious to our surroundings when puttering about, doing daily quests (chores) or whatever routine we’ve gotten ourselves into in games. I think Achievements and rep grinds and such tap into that, and not always in the players’ best interest. I believe that’s something to guard against as a designer. Players will get themselves into autopilot mode just fine. Making games that *require* that for progression really aren’t all that healthy.

It’s curious to me when gaming becomes more habit, less “play”, and I do think that sometimes it’s best to stop at that point and try something else, even if only for a while.

I think there is a big difference between the immersion that people seek out in gaming and the autopilot of a commute or other RL routine activity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called the phenomenon “Flow” and originally applied it to recreational and creative activities such as running, writing, throwing pottery, etc.

I used to play WoW almost every spare moment, but I have severely curtailed my current participation in WoW in the past few months. While I love the game and the storylines; right now, there is no true progress, only grinding of different types. Raiding is the worst example of this, as it both breaks my immersion because of the VOIP requirement, and is a monotonous grind for little reward. Which is why I stopped. When Cata comes I’ll pick it up more for a while.

I’m not sure ‘escapism’ is escaping. It’s more like the exact opposite and trying to burrown into a cell.

I think alot of people just want another recreational drug, and try to see ‘immersion’ as a legitimised one. Imbibing texts and graphics rather than alcohol or chemicals.

I think fantasy can be made as a way to look at the real world with the perspective gained from ‘it’s not our world, it’s a different world’ in a way that frees your mind up to look at the big picture from angles you might not have thought about otherwise.

Fantasy is like a two edged knife that way – either opening your eyes to things not yet dreamed of in your philosophy, or clamping them tight against anything that’d take you even remotely out of your comfort zone.